


The blessing

by Avidfangirlforlife



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 05:50:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15723270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avidfangirlforlife/pseuds/Avidfangirlforlife
Summary: An AU in which Regina waits for a private audience with Snow and David (it's a fantasy Royal Court setting) to ask for their blessing.





	The blessing

**Author's Note:**

> This a piece I posted in my fanfic.net a couple of years ago and just came across again. So I edited it and expanded it and changed bits and pieces and I think this is a better result.

Lady Regina could feel her heart thundering in her chest. Beating rapidly, a drum pulsing against the inside of her ribcage. She stood waiting for her private audience with the King and Queen, a moment she had both dreaded and anticipated for weeks. These next few moments would determine her fate, they could alter her future dramatically.

Within the next few minutes whether she would get her happily ever after would be decided. The next few minutes of her life would decide whether she got her perfect story book ending. Her happiness, her entire world, all her hopes and dreams, relied solely on the answer she received from the two people sat behind the heavy and intricately carved oaken doors.

As she stared at the ornate carvings, she could feel the anxiety building within her. It bubbled away beneath the surface, always present, increasing her self-doubt tenfold as she waited. More than anything, she needed the answer to her request to be yes. More than anything she had ever needed before. She needed the royal blessing. She needed it desperately.

Over the course of the past eighteen months, the duration of her time in the safety of the White Court, she had found herself falling in love. Deeply and fully, a soul match that she knew to be true. She had found her true love.

As an official courtier, a position she had happily taken up, she needed Royal permission to marry. It was more than that, though. The person she had fallen in love with was none other than the White Princess, The Lady Emma. Her attachment had begun as little more than an intimate friendship. She had felt that the two of them were something akin to kindred spirits.

As time had passed, she had noticed herself yearning for the other woman, dreaming about her at night. When she had reached the point of pondering their future together, she had known what it was she was feeling. Furthermore, she knew that her feelings were not one-sided. The bond that had bloomed between the two of them was inexplicable. The connection between them was unlike anything either of them had felt before. Her inkling of what it was had only grown as the months had passed.

The days had slipped by, and the two of them had become nigh on inseparable. Friendship had blossomed into something even softer, even deeper. Lady Regina had inadvertently found herself unofficially courting the sole heir to the White Throne. The sole heir to the Kingdom and the immeasurable fortune to go with it.

The Lady Emma was everything good a person could be. She was sweet and charming and witty and heart achingly beautiful. Somehow, she also defied everything that a person expected a princess to be, she was brave and brash and stubborn, with a penchant for sword fighting and acts of knightly valour. She breathed life and vitality into those around her, Regina often found herself comparing falling in love with her to an awakening in the Springtime.

From early on, both women had been aware of what was growing between them. Consciously, both had chosen to keep it unchecked. Regina had often found herself thanking the gods for the unique position Emma had found herself in upon coming of age. Unlike most royals, The Lady Emma was not and never had been betrothed to a prince that she had never met.

Despite this being a part of her duty to her Kingdom as a princess and as sole heir to the throne, her parents firmly believed in true love. They believed that whom she married should be her choice, and both were determined that she should marry for nothing less than a true love match. Much in the way that they had.

Neither woman had addressed the feelings growing between them, not until very recently. Regina was not sure that either of them ever would. Until one day, she did. She had been sure to be very subtle about it, on the off chance that she was proven mistaken in her affections. Then she had begun to test the waters. A look here, a brush of hands there, a dance at a ball (something she respected The White Kingdom for immensely was the attitude towards those inclined to the same sex).

As she had tested the waters, she had found herself noticing the King and Queen watching her. Subtle hints at their unofficial courtship had been dropped, every so often. Subtle hints that told her she was being well received. Subtle hints that seemed to nudge her even closer to their daughter.

This was something that the Lady Regina had started to take as a positive sign. Many potential suitors had come to try their hand at courting Emma over the past year and a half. Not one had lasted more than a day. Of course, Emma was mostly to blame for this, but her parents had certainly helped her on her way with it.

As she waits, she thinks that surely, they must know what this private audience is for. They must know why she is here. She certainly hoped that was the case. Until this morning she had not been aware that she possessed such courage. She finds herself thinking that she must have the heart of a lion to be able to face The Lady Emma’s parents. She must have unspeakable courage to be able to ask them what she intends to ask.

It has taken more courage than she dared think about to ask for a private audience. It had taken even more to find herself in front of the carved doors to the Privy Chamber where the King and Queen heard private petitions. She thanked the gods for the privacy that the chamber would provide. It would save much embarrassment on her part this way, if they said no. it also meant it was highly likely that they would understand the nature of her request.

If they knew, it would make the nerve-wracking task she was about to undertake just the slightest bit easier. Emma, dear Emma, had not even the slightest inkling that she was here. Until after, that was the way it had to stay.

That way, if Regina had read the signals wrong, all would be well. The Lady Emma would not have gotten her hopes up, only to have them dashed against the rocks. If the King and Queen did not react in the way that she hoped they would, it would be for the best that Emma never found out. It would save her a lot of pain. It would mean that only Regina would have to do the hurting. For if there was one thing Lady Regina hoped to never do, it was cause Emma pain.

Taking a deep breath, to both steady and fortify herself, she took a moment to remind herself that The White Kingdom was a much more liberal land than the one she hailed from. It was much more liberal than the home from which she had fled. For instance, the Queen’s best friend, Red, was openly married to another woman. The two were always very well received at Court.

Regina was no longer under the thumb of her abusive mother. She would no longer be punished for existing and being unable to live whilst denying her proclivities. She would no longer be forced to feel ashamed in her own skin, for loving women over men. Nobody here was shamed for the way they were born. In this kingdom all that mattered was that she loved the Princess with all of her heart. And she was certain that this love was returned. She had never been more certain than anything than she was of that particular fact.

With utter certainty she could say that Emma’s name was firmly imprinted upon her heart. It was engraved there, a permanent mark, and that would never change. No matter what happened over the next few minutes, she would not change that for the world. Even if this audience dashed her deepest hopes and ruined every dream she had created, even if it caused her indescribable pain, she would never change that. She would not take back her love for Emma. Such a thing was simply not possible.

In the times before her arrival into The White Kingdom, she had thought herself to be in love before. The girl had been a humble kitchen maid, Daniella. The girl had been young and pretty and kind and Regina was young and alone and so very vulnerable. Both of them had been children. They had imagined a life together in the way that only children can, in concepts and ideas. Then Daniella had betrayed her, she had told Regina’s mother, and Regina had fled. She had run for her life and stopped being a child all at once. Everything she had felt for that girl paled in comparison to what she felt for Emma.

She loved her, in a way that words could not fully express. Even so, she had tried her best to eloquently describe the feeling to her. Finally, after so much waiting, she had told her that she loved her. She had done so only the night before (she had been trying to wait for after the private audience) as they had danced together on the grand balcony of the Palace’s great ballroom. Soft music had filtered out from the inside, their footsteps had echoed off of the polished white marble beneath their feet. The two of them had been completely alone, almost as if the world had just the two of them in it.  
Emma had looked so beautiful in the half light, illuminated by the starlight and soft glow of the flickering torches. It had stolen her breath away, even as she had paused in her movements. Her golden curls (the exact type that a princess should have) had been bleached of their golden glow in the moonlight and her eyes had sparkled, so full of life.

With great hesitation, she had pulled The Lady Emma closer to her, closer than the two of them had ever been before. She embraced her fully, nestled her head in the space between Emma’s chin and shoulder. Somehow, she had finally found the courage to say those five most important words. Upon hearing them, Emma’s leading them around the balcony in lazy circles had faltered. With great trepidation Regina had pulled back slightly and looked up. A part of her had expected the worst, had imagined every bad thing that could happen in that moment. Although Emma’s gaze had been glassy with unshed tears, her smile had been impossibly wide. For a moment the two of them had just looked at one another, statues poised, waiting for something to happen. And then, dear Emma had surged forward and drawn Regina to her. She had kissed her for the first time, and Regina had realised she would have waited her entire life just for that one kiss, quite happily.  
Upon waking, Regina had been half convinced she had dreamed it all. After all, could it have possibly happened, much in the way she had dreamed it? She wasn’t sure that the deepest hopes and dreams one had really came true. 

Whether it truly had happened or not (though she was now almost certain that it had), she had a private audience with the King and Queen. So now she stood, with her knees feeling wobbly, waiting to enter the private audience chamber. If she had not been a child of the nobility, disinherited though she was, she was certain that she would have been visibly shaking. The matter she was about to talk to the King and Queen about was the most important matter of her life.

Rather suddenly, she finds herself shaken from her reverie to the constant thumping of wooden staffs against the ground. The sound which precedes the great oaken doors opening. It alerts her to the fact that her audience is about to begin. Feeling nauseous, she takes another deep breath to help prepare herself. It is a very odd sensation, she finds, to have a mouth as dry as a desert and palms so clammy that they slide against her dress. Steadily, her heart thuds a regular pattern against her ribcage. With even steps, she enters the room in which her fate will be decided.

Sinking into a deep curtsy before the raised plinth for the thrones, she waits patiently for the royals to address her. She keeps her eyes on the edge of the plinth. After all, while she had run away from her mother, her lessons in being a lady were still very much applicable. One should never raise her eyes above knee level unless one is being directly addressed. She tries to gather her courage for she can hardly let it fail her now.

Before her, she hears a throat being cleared, high and gentle. It is a clear invitation for her to raise herself back up to her full height. For a moment, she allows herself to raise her eyes to the thrones before her, only to find two of the three of them empty. The only occupied throne seats The Lady Emma. While her heat skips a beat to see her beloved before her slouched slightly in her seat, with the two   
of them so very alone, she can’t quite seem to keep the confusion off her face. In her confusion, she allows herself to venture into a slightly uncourtly question.

“My Lady, what are you doing here?”

In answer, she receives a jokingly raised eyebrow and a slight smirk plastered across her beloved’s face.

“I could quite ask the same of you, my lady.” Lady Regina can feel a light flush spreading across her cheeks and down her neck, dusting her in what she would most probably describe as the most unattractive shade of red. The look on the Princess’ face would be enough to make the most seasoned of courtiers in love grow red.

“I requested a private audience with you parents, The King and Queen this morning.” It is all Regina can do to speak in a level voice. The slow smile that she can see forming on Emma’s face out of the corner of her eyes (court rules dictate that her behaviour must follow certain set decorum) is enough to make her feel warm all over.

“Ahh yes, now I recall”, a playfully thoughtful look spreads over Emma’s face. “They asked me to deal with all court affairs this morning as practice for the future. What was the urgent matter you needed to speak to my parents about?”

Lady Regina can feel the heat radiating from her cheeks. She can only imagine the alarming shade of red which is emblazoned across her face. Absently, she wonders if it spreads all the way down to the rather low neckline of her dress. The courage she had summoned for this meeting has all but deserted her. She finds herself thrown by the prospect of having to ask this of Emma instead of her parents.

Normally, Regina has an easy confidence in her manner, but that all but disappears where Emma is concerned. Her eyes fall to the polished wooden flooring of the audience chamber. Taking an avid interest in the dark swirls and spirals in the wood, she listens to the sound of Emma standing and the rustling of her dress. The heels of Emma’s shoes click against the wooden floor as she approaches.   
The hem of the silk dress Emma wears comes into view as she steps down from the plinth and moves closer to Regina. The princess stops very close to her, closer than they should be, for propriety’s sake. So close that it affects her ability to think. When Emma speaks, it is in a gentle voice.

“My lady, what is it that you need?”

At the gentle question, she feels even more heat flood to her face. Haltingly, she mumbles her request under her breath, not quite brave enough to speak it out loud now that the moment has arrived. She knows that this will not appease The White Princess, not even in the slightest. The princess is stubborn and determined to get what she wants from a situation.

Far from appeasing her, it seems to further resolve her already steely determination. Gently, because everything she does involving Regina is done so, she takes hold of Regina’s chin between her thumb and her forefinger. She raises her chin slowly, until their eyes are able to meet.

Smiling at her, Emma is all warm summer sunshine and encouragement. The butterflies that never quite seem to leave her stomach flutter softly. Entranced by the proximity of her love and all that is Emma she finds herself audibly repeating the sentence, “I was going to ask for their blessing.”

For a mere second, Emma is thrown by this. She looks extremely confused, as though this were not the answer she was expecting at all. Emotion seems to flood across her fair features, but she manages to reign it in slightly. She gathers herself enough to ask another question. Lady Regina can hear the slight tremor in her voice, which is coloured ever so slightly by hope.

“Their blessing for what?”

The way her breath catches tells Regina that she suspects what is coming. Lady Regina finds herself smiling and grasping Emma’s hands between her own. She smiles wide even as nerves make her mouth drier than she thinks it has ever been before. Emma looks at her from beneath her eyelashes, suddenly and inexplicably shy. Almost as though she scarcely dares to believe that this moment, after so much time building towards it, is finally happening.

“Their blessing and support in me asking for your hand in marriage.”

The way that Emma draws in a breath is enough to tell Regina all she needs to know. It is sharp and surprised, as if Emma had not dared hope that this was what was coming. Tears begin to slide down the princess’ cheeks, falling to the floor. Shakily she draws in a breath, before telling Regina the news she has been waiting to hear.

“We already have their blessing, they gave it to me at dawn when I visited asking for permission to marry.”

“So, I suppose, all that is left to do is the actual asking. Emma, would you do me the vast honour of becoming my wife? I have loved you since the moment we met, and I will do so until my dying day. Will you marry me?”

Emma kisses her, firmly but chastely. “Say it again.” It is a request that Lady Regina is more than happy to grant.

“Will you marry me?” 

In response she receives a series of far less chaste kisses as she is pulled closer and closer to the front of her beloved and a chorus of “yes” breathed out between kisses.


End file.
